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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



B 3 N GAR 

" Our Libs are Lost ! Our Country Saved ! " 

A SHORT SKETCH 

OF THK 

SERVICE AND SACRIFICES 

OF 

DAVID B. TAN NER, 

LATK ok thk 

5TH RHODE ISLAND BATTERY, 

WHO LOST HIS LEG 

AT THK 

BATTLE OF ANTIETAM, 

SEPT. 17th, 186-2. 
Sold as a means of Support for himself and Family. 

PRICE, TWENTY-FIVE CENTS. 



BOSTON : / ~ 



BOSION: /-/ 
PRINTED BY JOHN D. FtrAGG SCO. 



££ 




No. 95 Avon Place 
1870. 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1870, by David B. Tanneb, 
n the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



/ 

>7 3'7 



7 



INTRODUCTION. 



Dear Reader: 

j|EING by profession a sai- 
<y lor, and having lost my right 
leg, by reason of wounds re- 
ceived at the Battle of Antie- 
tam, I am unable to support 
myself and family, (wife and 
three children,) and I therefore 
take this method of doing so, 
trusting to a Patriotic and 
Sympathizing Public to aid me 
in this endeavor. 



CHAPTER I. 

TN" July 1861, while at Turks Island, West In- 
-*■ dies, on board the Barque " Jane," of Damar- 
iscotta, news of the Civil War in our Country was 
received, producing of course a profound sensation 
in our minds. We sailed the next day with a car- 
go of Salt, bound for Providence, Rhode Island, 
and while on the way, most of our crew, including 
myself, made up our minds to join the defence of 
our beloved Country, if our services should be 
needed. Our Vessel arrived at Providence in due 
time and finding that our services were needed, as 
the war was going on, we proceeded to carry out 
our determinations. 

I enlisted in the 5th Rhode Island Battery, 
(Battery D, 1st Regiment, R. I. Light Artillery,) 
Sept 4th, 1861, and went into camp at " Camp 
Greene," where I prepared myself for the duties 
of a soldier. 

Four of my brothers also enlisted at about the 
same time, but in other organizations, making five 
of us from one family in the Union Army. 

JVb Bounties of any kind, were either offered 
or needed, to induce us to give ourselves to the 
service. 



In a few days after I had joined the Battery, we 
started from Providence on our way to the seat 
of War, arriving at Washington soon after, where 
we were attached to the Army of the Potomac. 

We did not happen however to have much very 
active duty given us to attend to, until the rebels 
invaded Maryland in the fall of 1862. 

At that time, we were put into the 9th Army 
Corps under the gallant General Burnside and 
proceeded to take the offensive and expel the 
" Jhonnies" from out " Sacred Soil." 

On the morning of the 17th of Sept., the day 
made memorable forever, by the great and bloody 
Battle our Army then fought, and the glorious 
Victory they finally gained from it, we came up 
with the rebels at Antietam Creek, near Sharps- 
burg, Maryland. 

Our Battery went into position on the left of 
the Union Line, and we proceeded to send its 
swift-winged messengers of death into the ene- 
mies of our Country and Flag. The battle waxed 
warm, and about noon while in the act of ramming 
a solid shot into one of our guns, I was struck in 
the right leg by a cannon shot thrown by the 
Rebel gunners. 

My leg was very badly shattered about three 
inches above the ancle joint, and my foot was 
twisted round to such an extent by the force, that 



5 



my toes were almost in the position that my heel 
had always occupied before. I was picked up 
and carried off the field ; then being put into an 
ambulance and sent to Washington, where I was 
put into the Douglas Hospital. 



CHAPTER II. 

A S a matter-of-course my shattered limb caused 
-£*- me intense pain and suffering, sometimes 
being almost as it seemed to me, beyond endur- 
ance. 

The doctors tried hard to save my leg from 
amputation, but after weeks of agony, mortifica- 
tion having made its dreaded appearance, I was 
obliged to have it cut off, but for the first time 
only, as it afterwards proved. It was taken off 
just below the knee, and if I had not been forced to 
have it cut off again, I should now in all probability 
be wearing a false leg and getting around quite 
comfortably, instead of going on crutches as I am 
obliged to. 

I desire to state here, that but for the criminal 
wilfullness and carelessness of a young medical 
student who broke my limb again, after the shat- 



6 



tered bones had apparently began to knit together, 
it might perhaps have been saved to me, although 
it would have been shorter than the other. My 
system was very much reduced at this time, but 
the hope that I might now speedily recover kept 
me up through every thing. . 

I was doomed to disappointment however, for 
after almost six months of suffering, such as only 
those who have endured the same thing, for the 
same length of time, can ever understand. Mor- 
tification again set in, and for the second time I 
was obliged to have it amputated ; — this time 
being cut off close to my body. 

I was now so much worn down and reduced, 
that my life was despaired of, and I was finally 
carried into the Dead House, attached to the 
Hospital, supposed to be dead. 

This I learned from my nurses some time after- 
ward, I being so far gone, as to be wholly insensi- 
ble at that time. 

A Mrs. Barker, a very kind lady and one of the 
Sanitary Commission people, who had done a 
great deal for me all through my trials, having de- 
clared that she could detect slight breathing on 
my part, while in the dead house waiting for bit- 
rial, I was conveyed into the Hospital again and 
efforts were made to bring me to. 



In these they were successful, and I was given 
a new lease of life through their efforts. 

All these things I learned afterward, from my 
very, very kind friend, Mrs. Barker, to whom under 
Providence, I feel that I owe my life. 

The Sisters of Charity, were also very kind to 
me in my great extremity, and the first thing that 
I realized, when I was brought back to life as it 
were, was, that one of them was putting something 
into my mouth with a spoon. 

From this time I began to improve, and in May, 
1863, eight months after I had received my wounds 
at Anteitam, although by no means wholly recov- 
ered, I was able to be sent home to my family. 

For almost a year after I came home, my stump 
still troubled me, small pieces of bone being occa- 
sionally discharged from it, and much heat and 
pain being felt. 

It may seem very strange to those who have 
never heard of such a thing, but ever since I 
lost my leg, I have been able at times to feel my 
foot, particularly the toes, just the same as if I had 
never lost them. The feeling is very painful 
sometimes, too. 

My stump has always been so very tender and 
sensitive that all attempts to wear false legs of 
any kind, have proved failures, and it now seems 



that I shall have to go on crutches all the rest 
of my life. 

Rather a hard lot, dear reader, but our Country 
required the sacrifice of me and I must not be- 
grudge it. 

Since I recovered, enough to be able to do any- 
thing for the support of those dependent upon me, 
I have earned my living at whatever I could find 
to do, but my having a wife and three children, 
renders it imperatively necessary that I should 
have more of the means of life, than in my crip- 
pled and enfeebled condition I can earn. 

All that is said here, can be proved by abundant 
testimony. I therefore offer this little book, to I 
trust, a Patriotic and Sympathizing Public, hop- 
ing it may do for me all that I would be able to 
do for myself, had I never been required to make 
such a sacrifice upon the altar of our common 
heritage. 



9' 



CHAPTER III. 

THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH RHODE ISLAND. 

ONE of the Rhode Island boys out on picket 
near Yorktown, Va., found himself in close 
proximity to one of the enemy's pickets, and, after 
exchanging without availing anything, they mu- 
tually agreed to cease and go to dinner. 

"What regiment do you belong to?" asked an 
inquisitive Yankee friend of his neighbor. 

" The Seventeenth Georgia," was the response ; 
" and what regiment do you belong to ? " asked. 
Secesh. 

« The One Hundred and Fifth Rhode Island," 
answered our Yankee friend. 

Secesh gave a long, low whistle, and evapora- 
ted. 

Old Hannah. 

" When I was in Jefferson, in the fall of 1862," 
said Robert Collyer, "I found the hospitals in the 
most fearful condition you can imagine. I can- 
not stop to tell you all the scenes I saw ; it is 
enough to say that one poor fellow had lain there 
sick, and seen five men carried away dead, one 
after another from his side. He was worn to a 



10 



skeleton, — worn through, — and had great sores 
all over his back, and was filthy beyond descrip- 
tion. 

One day a little before my visit, old Hannah, 
a black woman, who had some washing to do for 
the doctor, went down the ward to hunt him up. 
She saw this dying man, and had compassion on 
him and said : 

' O, doctor, let me bring this man to my bed, to 
keep him off the floor.' ♦ 

The doctor said, c the man is dying ; he will be 
dead to-morrow.' To-morrow came, and old Han- 
nah could not rest. She went to see the man and 
he was still alive. Then she got some help, took 
her bed, put the man on it and carried him b9ldly 
to her shanty ; then she washed him all over, as 
a woman washes a baby, and fed him with a spoon, 
and fought death, hand to hand, day and night, 
and beat him back, and saved the soldier's life. 

The day before I went to Jefferson, the man 
had gone on a furlough to his home in Indiana. 
He besought Hannah to go with him, but she 
could not spare time ; there was all that washing 
to do. She went with him to the Steamboat, got 
him fixed just to her mind and then kissed him, and 
the man lifted up his voice as she left, and wept 
like a child. I say we have grown noble in our 
suffering." 



11 



Incident of Antietam. 

In a small clump of woods, near the battle-field, 
the body of a dead Union soldier in a partially- 
upright position, was found resting against a tree. 
The expression of the man's countenance was per- 
fectly natural, — in fact he appeared as if he were 
only asleep. Alongside of him was an old and 
worn Bible, which the poor fellow, knowing his 
time had come, was reading, and in this way a 
Soldier and Christian he died; and now, with 
thousands of others, his grave is unknown. 

Sheridan's Love of Music. 

A correspondent with Sherman's army record- 
ed this incident. Memorable the music that 
" mocked the moon" of November on the soil of 
Georgia ; sometimes a triumphant march, some- 
times a glorious waltz, again an old air stirring the 
heart alike to recollection and hope. Floating out 
from throats of brass to the ears of soldiers in 
their blankets, and generals in their tents, these 
tunes hallowed the eyes of all who listened. 

Sitting before his tent in the glow of a camp- 
fire one evening, General Sherman let his cigar 
go out to listen to an air that a distant band was 
playing. The musicians ceased at last. The Gen- 
eral turned to one of his officers : 



12 



" Send an orderly to ask that band to play that 
tune again." 

A little while and the band received the word. 
The tune was " The Blue Juniata," with exquisite 
variations. The band played it again, even more 
beautifully than before. Again it ceased, and 
then, off to the right, nearly a quarter of a mile 
away, the voice of some soldiers took it up with 
some words. The band, and still another band, 
played a low accompaniment. Camp after camp 
began singing the music, and " The Blue Juniata " 
became, for a few minutes, the oratorio of half an 
army. 

Love, Hate and Piety on the Battle-field. 

A Rhode Island Soldier utterly exhausted, 
stepped aside to rest a few moments under the 
shade. There he found a gasping, and dying 
Southern soldier, and put his almost exhausted 
canteen to his parched lips. The dying soldier, 
— an enthusiast in his cause, — in high excite- 
ment gasped, " Why do you come to fight us ? 
We shall utterly annihilate you. We have ninety 
thousand men. You can never subjugate us. We 
have a series of batteries beyond, which will des- 
troy all the armies you can bring." 

The Rhode Island Soldier proceeded to state, — 



13 



and how strange and how tremendously real then, 
— that the object of the war was not the subju- 
gation of the South, but the preservation of the 
Union. "And now," said the manly fellow, "I 
have given you water from my canteen, when its 
drops are more precious than diamonds. If you 
had found me in this state, what would you have 
done?" 

The eyes of the dying man gleamed like those 
of a basilisk, and he replied : 

" I would have put my bayonet to your heart." 

In a few moments he went into eternity, and 
the Rhode Islander resumed his place on the bat- 
tle-field. 

But there were also instances of Christian feel- 
ing exhibited on the battle-field, one of which is 
very affecting. 

A wounded Federal soldier was hastily carried 
to a woods, and placed by the side of a dying 
Georgian. The Georgian, evidently a gentleman? 
said to him, as they laid bleediug side by side : 

"We came on this field enemies; let us part 
friends," and extended to him his hand, which the 
other grasped with the reciprocal expression of 
friendly feeling. They were both Christian men, 
and they lay with clasped hands on t?hat bloody 
field, until the hand of the Georgian was cold in 
death. 



14 



How beautiful that scene, amidst the horrors of 
the battle-field ! Who shall say, in view of it, 
that because of this strife between the North and 
South, they can never again clasp hands in mutu- 
al friendship and esteem. Who shall say that the 
time will not come, when, on some well-fought 
field, they who met as enemies, shall part as 
friends, and peace and restoration and mutual es- 
teem ensue. 

Another incident was sublime, and shows how 
close Christ Jesus is to His people, wherever they 
may be. 

A strong, tall man from Maine, received a min- 
nie ball directly in his breast, and with the out- 
stretched arms and the upward leap, which is of- 
ten said to mark such a death, he exclaimed, 
" Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit." 



BALL'S BLUFF. 

Fronting the hostile border, 
And false Virginia's strand — 

Where lurked the rebel warder, 
And gleamed the rebel brand — 

We held in warlike order, 
The shores of Maryland. 



15 



By dark Potomac's river, 
We mustered, rank on rank ; 

The wind crept like a shiver, 
Around us, chill and dank ; 

Swift was the hostile river, 
And steep the hostile bank. 

Then up Virginia's verges 
Our valiant chieftain leads ; 

Across Potomac's surges, 

That toss our boats, like reeds ; 

'Tis Freedom's Will that urges — ■ 
'Tis Freedom's Cause that needs. 

Oh ! what an hour of wonder ! 

Divine with dauntless pain ; 
When ranks were cloven asunder, 

And lives were mown, like grain ; 
And men stood calmly under, 

While deaths fell thick as rain. 

High on those mountain ridges 
Our shattered lines we close, 

Pent in by slippery ledges, 
And girt by treacherous foes ; 

The while, from woodland edges, 
Their ambush narrower grows. 



16 

In vain, the conflict sharing, 

Manhattan's braves unite ; 
All vainly — forward faring — 

Our Californians fight ; 
In vain, with stubborn daring, 

New England's heroes smite. 

Wild was the deed they ventured— 

Pealing defiant shout ; 
Up where the foemen centered — 

Into that rebel rout — 
Six score of heroes entered ; 

Never a score came out ! 

Full many a glorious battle 
Has proved our soldier-stuff; 

Through years of war's wild rattle — 
Through years of trial tough ; 

Since loyal men, like cattle, 

"Were shot down at Ball's Bluff. 



CJ2H TIFICA TJ&. 

I hereby certify that the bearer, DAVID B. TANNER, 
was a member of Battery D, 1st Regiment, R. I. Light Ar- 
tillery, and received the injury whereby he lost his leg while 
doing duty with the Battery. 

GEO. C. HARKNESS, 

Late 1st Lieut., Battery D, 1st Reg. R. I. L. A. 



